Microsoft grappling with newfound underdog status as it enters the tablet market

Microsoft (MSFT) knows quite a bit about being the world’s most dominant tech company. But over the past few years, Microsoft has taken a backseat as Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) have taken firm hold of the mobile computing market. And now that the company is finally getting into the tablet game by launching the Surface, it’s apparently coming to terms with its newfound status as an underdog. In an interview with Business Insider, an unnamed Microsoft executive said that sometimes it can be “good to be second” because you can see all the mistakes your competitors have made and try to avoid them. The executive related this to Microsoft’s decision to make the Surface more like a laptop than most tablets, as the company wants to make the Surface a one-stop device that has the all the virtues of both a tablet and PC.